TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 42

Seeing this, Xiao Hei immediately bristled like a startled cat. In the blink of an eye, he shot forward like an arrow released from the bowstring, slamming into the arrogant butler from behind.

The butler had just heard the clanking of shackles and turned his head when he was knocked to the ground, the slice of white bread in his hand flying away.

“You damned little slave!” the butler snarled, clutching his waist as he rose in fury. Using his adult size to his advantage, he kicked Xiao Hei’s body hard again and again to vent his rage.

Curled up on the ground from the pain, Xiao Hei barely had time to react before the blows kept raining down. One hand shielded his head while his eyes, gritting against the pain, stayed fixed on the bread lying on the floor. Slowly, he reached a hand toward it.

Thinking the boy was just a starving wretch trying to snatch food after going hungry for two days, the butler stomped on his hand. “Lazy, good-for-nothing!”

But before he could land another blow, Albin lunged forward, covering Xiao Hei’s body with his own.

The butler’s kick struck the small boy instead, making Albin’s frail frame tremble. Realizing this, the butler stopped and stepped back half a pace, a flicker of apprehension crossing his face.

He hesitated, uneasy.

If something happened to this “vessel” child—if he died before the master returned—it would be trouble.

The sins might return to the master’s body. After all, in past sin-eating rituals, the recipient had already been dead, so there was no such risk. But if this boy came to harm, who knew what might happen?

The master had repeatedly warned him not to let the child die.

“Mangy brat and little fool,” he cursed.

He spat a few more vicious insults at Xiao Hei but, wary of the consequences, dared not strike him again. Instead, he picked the bread up from the floor and thrust it at Albin. “Eat it!”

Albin turned his head, took the bread from him.

Xiao Hei began to struggle wildly, but Albin held him down.

The butler watched the “foolish” boy lower his head and chew. By the time Albin looked up again, the bread was gone, his mouth still working. Satisfied, the butler gave a cold snort and left, locking the heavy door behind him.

Fading dusk light spilled through the window, dim and cold. The room, like a fireplace gone out, grew darker and chillier.

When all was silent outside, Albin finally got off Xiao Hei.

“Phew—” he exhaled, then frowned at him. “What was that just now? You didn’t want me to eat that bread?”

Xiao Hei clenched his fists in frustration. “That bread can’t be eaten…”

“Ta-da!” Albin pulled out the same piece of bread, a sly smile on his face. “I didn’t eat it! I was just tricking him.”

He had always found it strange that the butler stared at him whenever he ate bread. When Xiao Hei suddenly burst in and kept reaching for it, he had a hunch something was wrong—so he hadn’t actually eaten it.

Xiao Hei let out a long breath of relief.

Albin eyed the bread, which looked perfectly normal.

“What’s wrong with it, anyway? Is it poisoned? But I’ve been eating it for years…”

“That’s sin bread,” Xiao Hei explained, telling him what he had overheard—about sin-eaters, the ritual, the bread that carried misfortune, and how people avoided those who ate it.

Albin’s eyes widened in realization. “So that’s it. Nobles really do think in the strangest ways.”

He fell silent, thinking.

Xiao Hei watched him, tense and worried.

“They’ve transferred all the sins to you. Something bad will happen.”

Sin-eaters always came to a bad end—and never lived long. But he had no idea how to remove the sins from Albin. Maybe fire could cleanse them, but that was only after death.

He hated those arrogant nobles, and he didn’t want his only friend to die because of them.

“You…” An idea flashed through his mind. “You should transfer your sins to me!”

After all, he was already a slave condemned by the gods. A few more sins wouldn’t make a difference.

Albin was stunned, then reached out to flick him on the forehead.

“Idiot!” he pouted, huffing, “I’m not doing that. Then I’d be just like those horrible people, wouldn’t I?”

Xiao Hei blinked at him, looking like a wronged black dog who didn’t know what it had done wrong. “I’m willing. If you have too many sins, you’ll end up like all the other sin-eaters…”

“Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!” Albin started poking him in the forehead over and over, his bright red eyes blazing. “Besides, gods aren’t that stupid. Sin transfer—hah! Like it would really be that easy to fool them.”

“Really?” Xiao Hei asked, half-convinced.

“Of course!” Albin said firmly. “Do you think gods are fools?”

“Of course not.” Xiao Hei’s mother had worshipped the gods, so he too held deep reverence for them.

Having lived his whole life at the bottom of society with little education, he was quick to believe Albin’s words and let himself be soothed.

Albin, however, looked away, a little guilty.

Truthfully, he wasn’t sure about this “sin bread” business either. Gods weren’t easy to fool—but there were bad gods too, and maybe one of them had done this on purpose.

It wasn’t like healing a burn.

In Albin’s mind, burns were just an injury—something he could understand—so he could refute them with confidence.

But this “sin bread” was beyond his comprehension. He couldn’t explain or make sense of it. In a world where magic and gods existed, maybe the bread really was what Xiao Hei said it was.

And Xiao Hei had said sin-eaters always met a miserable end. Albin felt that was probably because those chosen as sin-eaters were already in bad circumstances—but then he thought of his own fate in the comic, and it really was tragic.

Oh no… what if this sin bread really is real?

Doubt began to gnaw at him, and he didn’t dare eat the soft white bread again.

But even if he never ate it again, he’d already eaten it for years. Who knew what kind of effect that might have?

Would it affect Xiao Hei, too?

Thinking of the two caretakers Xiao Hei had said were dead, Albin’s heart grew restless and panicked.

He didn’t want to bring misfortune to those around him.

While he was lost in thought, Xiao Hei was watching him with concern. “You got hurt… it’s because of me.”

He had clearly felt, when he was lying over Albin, that Albin had also been kicked, his body trembling from the blow.

Xiao Hei was used to being beaten, recovered quickly, and thought nothing of it. But Albin had probably never been struck in his life.

If it weren’t for him, Albin wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

A wave of guilt surged up in Xiao Hei’s heart, swallowing him whole.

Albin heard the heaviness in his voice and quickly said, “I’m fine! Not even bleeding—it’s like tripping and falling.”

“But you—” Albin threw the focus back, frowning. “You were kicked several times. Let me see your injury!”

He lifted Xiao Hei’s shirt, and a dark bruise came into view. Albin sucked in a sharp breath, guilt churning in his chest until his eyes were misty with tears.

“It’s all because of me…” he choked.

He had brought misfortune to Xiao Hei.

If not for stopping him from eating the sin bread, Xiao Hei wouldn’t be hurt.

“That’s not true!” Xiao Hei shot back, gripping Albin’s hand. Without thinking, he blurted out, “I’m really happy you let me be your friend, so don’t blame yourself.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized what he’d said, jerked his hand back, and tensed up as if curling into himself.

Softly, he added, “If you don’t want me as a friend, that’s fine too…”

Albin suddenly burst out laughing. He took Xiao Hei’s hand again, smiling through watery eyes. “Of course you’re my friend! Or are you planning to regret it?”

“R-Really?” Xiao Hei’s ears twitched, but Albin still couldn’t read his expression.

“You won’t let me blame myself, so you can’t blame yourself either!” Albin leaned in, brushing aside the other boy’s messy bangs.

Beneath the tangle of black hair, a pair of sky-blue eyes stared right at him, with a tiny tear mole just below the left one.

When their eyes met without obstruction, Xiao Hei quickly looked away, as if not used to it.

Albin’s own eyes lit up. “Such beautiful eyes! Like the blue of the sky.”

“Really?” Xiao Hei tilted his head. “Isn’t the sky more gray-blue?”

He rarely saw the sky, and in Thorn City the weather was usually bad—often hidden behind heavy clouds, nothing worth calling beautiful.

Albin shook his head. “I mean the super blue kind on a clear day! Next time it happens, I’ll make sure you see it.”

He tucked Xiao Hei’s hair behind his ear. “Keep your eyes uncovered, or it’ll affect your vision.”

“I’ll treat your injury now. If it hurts, just say so.” He released his magic, white particles flowing into Xiao Hei’s body under his control.

With his hair brushed aside, Xiao Hei’s field of view instantly widened.

He stared in surprise as Albin openly used magic in front of him. “You’re not going to blindfold me?”

“Because I trust you not to tell,” Albin said with a cheeky grin. “Well? I can use magic—cool, right?”

Looking into those sparkling eyes, Xiao Hei nodded firmly.

Then, hesitantly, he admitted, “Actually… I secretly saw it yesterday too.”

“That’s fine.”

“And…” Xiao Hei swallowed, “I’ve actually been watching you for a while.”

“Eh?” Albin looked puzzled. “Really?”

“There are peepholes in that little black room. I’ve been looking at you through them.”

Albin’s expression shifted in sudden understanding—and grew a bit strange.

Just as Xiao Hei thought he was about to get angry, Albin mumbled awkwardly, “Actually… I also used wind magic to eavesdrop on you. At first, I just wanted to know who was in the room next to mine. But you never spoke, so I could only hear you breathing.”

Xiao Hei froze.

He didn’t know what to say. After holding it in for a long while, he finally asked, “…Does it sound nice?”

The question caught Albin off guard, and he hesitated before replying, “I guess it does? I’ve always been alone, but ever since I could hear your breathing, it’s felt like someone was there with me. It’s… really comforting.”

Albin beamed with innocent joy. “I’ve wanted to be your friend since then. I’m so glad you agreed!”

“I’m happy too… If you like it, you can keep listening in the future.” Despite his heart pounding, Xiao Hei tried his best to control his breathing so it wouldn’t sound too fast.

Albin tilted his head. He had a faint feeling this might make him seem a little perverted, but since the other person didn’t mind, it should be fine.

“Mm, and you can keep looking at me too!”

From then on, they lived together in the little room.

When Xiao Hei went to the basement for work, Albin stayed in the room practicing magic. With his dark-element magic, he could make small illusions to fool the butler. From that day on, he never touched the so-called sin bread again.

Though Xiao Hei’s company made him far less lonely than before, Albin still often thought of his father and the others—especially the baked apples they had eaten together that day.

“I really want to eat baked apples again…” he murmured, hugging himself as he sat on the bed.

During the day, the room was quiet with only him inside, but at night it became lively again.

“Xiao Hei!” Hearing the familiar voice, Albin rushed to the tapestry to welcome the black-haired boy. He leaned forward to sniff him, then smiled with satisfaction. “Good, no injuries today. Let me try unlocking your shackles again.”

Xiao Hei first handed him the food he had brought back.

After the masters finished eating, the servants were allowed to share the leftovers. Nobles were famously extravagant, so the tables were always full of more food than they could eat, and servants often got decent portions.

But with so many servants in the castle, by the time it reached the lowest slaves, there wasn’t much left.

Xiao Hei had never cared much about food before—he ate slowly because of the muzzle, so even if he tried to grab food, it was useless.

But now that he had become friends with Albin, he worked harder to snatch a bit more to bring back.

Albin brought over his own portion, and the two of them shared dinner together.

Then Albin resumed working on the shackles around Xiao Hei’s ankles. The lock wasn’t like the toothed-key type he had imagined, and it couldn’t be pried open quickly—it had a nut-like mechanism instead.

“Try my latest invention!” Albin proudly showed him a key he had made with earth-element magic. He fit it into the lock and slowly turned.

Click. The metal shifted, and Albin’s eyes lit up as he quickly undid the shackle.

“Success!” Overjoyed, Albin grabbed him and bounced in excitement, letting him feel what it was like to move with unbound feet. He also unlocked the similar-structured muzzle.

For the first time, Albin saw Xiao Hei’s face unobstructed.

To his surprise, Xiao Hei looked cool and sharp, with pointed canine teeth and a fierce edge—he would definitely be popular when he grew up.

By comparison, Albin felt his own looks were too well-behaved. They easily won over teachers and parents, but he also wanted to try being a “cool guy” someday.

“Thank you, Xiao Bai.” Xiao Hei touched his own face, still a little unused to the freedom.

“Xiao Hei, let’s escape together!” Albin said eagerly. “I heard today that the old family head has passed away. They’ll be holding a funeral soon, and there will be lots of people here. In all the chaos, it’ll be the perfect chance to run.”

From overhearing servant gossip, he had even figured out some of the guard arrangements.

If it were just him, staying here wouldn’t matter much.

But he couldn’t stand seeing Xiao Hei enslaved day after day. He had been preparing to take him away for a while—scouting the roads outside with wind magic and keeping watch for opportunities.

Right now, he couldn’t save everyone—but if he could save even one person, he would.

“Alright.” Xiao Hei agreed without hesitation, his voice firm. “We’ll escape together.”

He would get Albin out of here.

—

In the master bedroom of the castle, the old family head had already passed away.

On the forehead of the corpse was a mysterious magic circle, and above it floated a piece of white bread.

Beside the bed, a mage employed by the family was casting some sort of spell.

This was the sin-eating ritual that had been performed daily for the past seven years. But in a few days, once the funeral was over, this daily task would also end.

The new master of the castle turned the family head’s ring on his finger, then glanced at the butler who was holding the bread and about to head to the tower. He suddenly remembered that there was still a child living up there.

His voice was cold. “Once the funeral’s over, get rid of that useless child.”

He was far from dying himself and had no intention of keeping such a child around.

Sin-eaters were easy to come by—he could simply find another newborn if he needed one.

The butler accepted the order without question.